About

Cambria Heights

2015 Summer Reading Program

Join the action this summer and have a blast at the Summer Reading Program at Queens Library. This summer celebrate real-life and fictional heroes, cool books, popular fantasy and graphic novels to the latest in your favorite series.

Thank Your Elected Officials With #YouInvested!

Mayor de Blasio, Speaker Mark-Viverito, Finance Chair Ferreras, Majority Leader Van Bramer, outgoing Libraries Subcommittee Chair Constantinides, incoming Libraries Subcommittee Chair King and the New York City Council have made an historic investment in our city’s libraries.

Rockaways Summer of Health

Rockaways Summer of Health is a series of programs and events designed to educate and get the Rockaways fit and healthy. Participate in a variety of classes and workshops for a healthy lifestyle such as stress reduction, nutrition and exercise classes.

Alicia Olatuja, Soul and R&B Concert

Alicia Olatuja sings with a strong, lustrous tone, and mixes elements of classical, jazz, gospel, and pop into her fluid vocalism. She has played alongside giants like Chaka Khan, Christian McBride, and Bebe Winans.

Submit Your eBook to Library Journal's eBook Awards Contest

The Library Journal will honor the best self-published ebooks in the following genres: Romance, Mystery, Science Fiction, Fantasy. There will be a winner in each genre and each winner will receive $1,000.00 USD from Library Journal.

The Summer Meals Program provides children nutritious meals when school is not in session. Queens Library will offer summer meals from June 29th to September 4th from 1 - 2 PM at select community libraries.

Additional Program Dates/Locations

This is a recurring program. If registration is required, you must register individually.

If you love to sing, you’ll love being part of our Summer Youth Chorus. Participants age 8 and up will learn different vocal techniques and become acquainted with a wide variety of music, including jazz, inspirational, pop, and rhythm and blues. The Chorus will have an opportunity to record its own CD, and you will be the star entertainers at our end-of-summer party!

Additional Program Dates/Locations

This is a recurring program. If registration is required, you must register individually.

Additional Dates

Join us for a series of hands-on workshops for young people age 7 and up focusing on sustainable design and renewable resources. Students will learn about sustainability and complete different craft projects that highlight what they learned.

History

Cambria Heights was originally a farming community which supplied produce to Brooklyn and Manhattan. It began developing in 1923 on 163 acres of land bought by Oliver B. LaFreniere, a real-estate agent. It acquired the name Cambria in about 1924 from its owner the ‘Cambria Title Savings and Trust Company’ a coal concern located in Cambria County, Pennsylvania. “Heights” was added because of the area’s high elevation.

First populated by Jewish, German, Irish and Italian residents, the community became a predominantly Black, middle-class suburb after the Second World War. Present demographics reveal a community comprised predominantly of African Americans and West Indians.

Library service for the community began in 1930 with the establishment of a bookmobile stop on Linden Boulevard for one hour a week. The following year, the bookmobile moved to PS 147 where it provided service to the children for a few hours each week. Service expanded as demand grew leading eventually to the need for a regular library.

Campaign efforts by a committee of the Civic Association resulted in the opening on July 15, 1949 of a sub-branch in rental quarters on Linden Boulevard. In 1964, the rental facilities were expanded and upgraded to a new location, 220-20 Linden boulevard, where it remained until 2006.

The latest incarnation of the Cambria Heights library is a state-of-the-art facility located at 218-13 Linden Boulevard. Opened in 2006, the library offers computers, WiFi, programs and materials of all types for all ages.